Gangplank



L. W. LANNING.

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Patented Oct. v19, 1920.

NEYS

LLOYD WILLABD LANNING, OF WDTONA, WASHINGTON.

GANGPLANK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 19, 1920.

Application led May 26, 1919. Serial No. 299,853.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LLOYD lV. LANNING, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Winona, in the county of Whitman and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gangplanks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in gangplanks, and has for its object to provide mechanism in connection with a gangplank such as are used between warehouses and freight cars for permitting passage of truck loads of freight, for registering the passage of the trucks in one direction, controlled by the passage of the truck in the said direction, and not controlled to register bythe passage of the truck in the reverse directlon.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the improved gangplank;

Figs. 2 and 3 are sections on the lines 2 2 and 3 3, respectively, of Fig. 1.

As is known, the law of many tetes requires that all warehouses and storage buildings along railroad right of ways shall be six feet or more from the rail, and for this reason each warehouse must have a gangplank capable of reaching from the building to the car in order to load or unload freight.

Such planks must be light and easy to handle and the registering mechanism must not add appreciably to the weight of the plank.

In the present embodiment of the invention the plank 1, which is of usual construction, has secured thereto, transversely of the upper face of the plank and at approximately its center, a plate 2, the said late being of suiilcient length to extend rom near one side edge of the plank to near the other side edge, and the stri is secured to the plank in any suitable or esired manner.

This strip is one leaf of a hinge, the other leaf 3 being a plate which is normally spring held in upright position by mechanism to be presently described, but which is adapted to yield when the truck rolls thereovei to permit the strip to move into substantial parallelism with the strip 2.

A coil spring 4 is arranged between the strip 2 and the gangplank and normally acts to hold the said strip 3 in upright position. At the opposite end the strip 3 is connected to a register or counter, indlcated at 5, of any suitable construction, the said counter being arranged within a notch 6 in the upper face of the plank at one side thereof.

The counter is operated by an arm T which is connected therewith, and this arni n extends to a point adjacent to the end of the Strip 3. Here the arm has a laterally ex.- tending pin 8, extending toward the strip 3 and engaging above an arm 9 on the tended end of the strip. The arrangement is such that when the strip 3 is swung downwardly in one direction the arm7 will be operated to operate the counter, the said arm being the controlling arm of the counter.

The arm is moved in the opposite direction by a compression spring 10 which is arranged between the arm and the plank. This spring is arranged on the opposite side ofthe counter from the pin 8, and acts normally to swing the arm 7 in a direction to move the pin downward, that is, to hold the pin in contact with the arm 9. llVhen the strip 3 is moved to the right of Fig. 1, the swinging upward of the arm 9 will operate the arm '7 to actuate the counter and every time the strip 3 swings downward under the pressure of a truck in one direction. that is, from the warehouse to the car or from the car to the warehouse, depending upon the arrangement of the gangplank, the counter will be operated to count one. As soon as the pressure on the strip 3 is released, the spring 10 will expand, pressing down the free end of the arm 7, and pressing down the arm 9, returning the strip 3 to original position.

When the truck moves in the opposite direction. however, the strip will not operate the counter, since the arm 9 swings away from the pin 8 and the controlling arm 7 of the counter will not be actuated.

The device is very light and is not expensive, and may be installed upon any gangplank without material changes in the plank.

The notch 6 will, in practice, be covered by a plate 11 for protecting the counter and this plate will have an opening through which the indications of the counter are visible. A pair of plates 12 is arranged on that side of the strip toward which it moves when registering, and springs 13 are arranged beneath these plates. Each plate, as shown, is secured at the end remote from the strip 3 Imi to the face of the gangplank, and the springs 13 are arranged beneath the opposite end and normally support the said ends at about the level of the top of the strip.

The springs 1,3 and the plates 12 are denressed with the stri) 3 the strin ensracinc a l C :o m

the said plates, as it leans toward them, and it laps upon them as it moves downward. The springs under the plates add resistance just before the load is registered, and if the pressure is light upon the strip, as, for instance, an unloaded truck or the Weight of a man, the register will not act. T he Weight of the loaded truck, however, will overcome the added resistance of the springs, depressing` the strip and registering the load.

l1 desired, an audible signal, as, for instance, a bell, may be provided for indicating when the counter registers. Preferably, the strip 2 is arranged in a groove of suiiicient depth to receive also the strip 3 when superimposed upon the strip 2 so that ne impediment is offered to the passage of the truck.

l elaini:

ln combination with a gangplank, a counter and means operated by the passage of a truck over the gangplank in one direction for Controlling 'the ceunter,said means cornprising` a strip secured transversely of the planlr, a second strip hinged to the first strip, springs for normally holding,` the said second strip in Vertical position and adapted to `Yield under the Weight of a loaded truck, and a connection between the strip and the counter for operating the counter when the second strip is swung down upon the plank in one direction.

LLYD WLLARD LANNlNG: i 

